Hey there! You’ve survived getting school supplies, school clothes and uniforms and everything is ready to go. Hopefully your child/ren had a great first day of school!
Now that you’ve done all this for the kiddos, let’s take a quick second to consider yourself. What do you need? What would fill your cup? What lights you up?!
If you don’t know where to start, I have a few guiding themes to help you ensure you’re getting what you need for self care. Now self-care isn’t just spa days, manicures and vacations. Self-care isn’t always about how you can escape your responsibilities, in motherhood it’s often finding ways to care for yourself while you’re caring for the people you love.
There’s five categories you can look at if you need some self-care inspiration in your own life:
- Physical– what does your body need?
- Food
- Water
- Sleep/rest
- Movement
- Medical appointments
- Postpartum recovery
- Taking prescribed medications/supplements as directed
- Getting outside
Question: “What is your body asking you for that you’ve been ignoring?”
2. Emotional – What are you carrying emotionally?
Examples:
- Crying
- Journaling
- Therapy
- Talking to a friend
- Naming what you’re feeling
- Giving yourself permission not to be okay
Ask yourself: “What emotion have you been carrying lately that you haven’t had space to process?”
3. Mental – What does your brain need?
Examples:
- Ten minutes without anyone asking a question
- Reading
- Quiet
- Turning off notifications
- Reducing decision fatigue
- Not having to organize everything
Mom mantra: “I don’t have to solve every problem today.”
4. Relational – Who supports you?
This is especially important because motherhood can become very one-directional: everyone comes to Mom.
Ask: “Who gets to take care of you?”
Then: “Who could you call when you don’t need advice—you just need someone to say, ‘I get it’?”
5. Spiritual/Personal
This doesn’t have to mean religion, although it can be if it fits. It can be whatever grounds and pours into you.
It can mean:
- Prayer
- Faith
- Nature
- Creativity
- Music
- Gratitude
- Purpose
- Connecting with the woman you were before motherhood
- Remembering who you are outside of being “Mom”
Ask: “Who are you besides Mom?”
Give yourself a minute to think over these questions and categories and I’m sure you’ll find something that will fill your cup and give you the exact self-care that you’ve been needing. Take care of yourself, Mama! You matter!
Love and light!